Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the report, A thematic review of work to prepare for the unification of probation services, published by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation in May 2021, what steps he is taking to ensure a consistent and effective approach to resettlement provision across England and Wales.

Our Target Operating Model for probation services, published in February 2021, set out full details of the improved approach to resettlement work in the Probation Service that we will be building towards. Performance measures and internal assurance have been developed to ensure consistent delivery across Regions and highlight areas for improvement in delivery.

The Resettlement approach is based upon the principle of the Community probation practitioner responsible for managing people post release from prison, becoming responsible for pre-release activities. They will hold the single sentence plan including all resettlement planning, ensuring risk planning and victim issues are addressed within preparation for release.